Chapter 16 - No More Roads Away
The judge ruled against Julian.
Not completely.
But enough.
Pending resolution of the competing trust documents, Julian could vote only the undisputed portion of his shares.
Adrian retained proxy control over the disputed block.
The shareholder meeting remained scheduled.
The logistics sale could pass.
Outside the courthouse, reporters surrounded them.
Julian said nothing.
Emily watched him lose the battle without theatrics.
Inside Rebecca’s office, he finally broke.
“I should have challenged the amendment differently six years ago.”
Rebecca looked up.
“You challenged everything at once. That was part of the problem.”
“I was angry.”
“You were destructive.”
Julian stared at her.
Rebecca shrugged.
“You hired me for honesty.”
Emily said quietly, “My mother thought the same thing.”
Julian looked at her.
“I know.”
His anger drained.
He sat.
“We need direct evidence tying Adrian to the forged document.”
“Nora’s affidavit does that,” Emily said.
“Dead witness,” Rebecca replied. “Potential hearsay issues vary depending on purpose. Useful, but not magical.”
“Claire?”
“Compromised.”
“Thomas?”
“Compromised twice.”
Emily thought.
“What about Victoria?”
Julian laughed.
“She’ll protect herself.”
Emily looked at him.
“That’s exactly why she might tell the truth.”
Rebecca’s eyes sharpened.
Emily continued.
“Victoria offered us evidence against Adrian because she thought he would sacrifice her.”
“Yes.”
“What if he already has?”
Julian understood.
They examined the latest board filings.
Adrian had submitted a statement to the audit committee.
In it, he blamed “unauthorized conduct by Victoria Vale, Thomas Greene, Claire Benton, and certain junior employees.”
Victoria had been placed at the center of the conspiracy.
Adrian described himself as “misled.”
Emily almost admired the cruelty.
“He’s throwing his wife away.”
Rebecca nodded.
“And if she has evidence he knew, she has reason to use it.”
Emily called Victoria.
This time, Victoria answered.
“What?”
“Your husband blamed you.”
Silence.
“I know.”
“He says you manipulated him.”
“I read the statement.”
“He says you created the trust fraud.”
“I can read, Emily.”
“Then help us prove he’s lying.”
Victoria laughed.
“You think we’re allies?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“I think you’re a woman whose husband has decided you are cheaper to lose than his company.”
Silence.
Emily continued.
“You slapped me because you thought I was carrying Adrian’s child.”
Victoria said nothing.
“You searched my room. You locked Julian and me in the gatehouse. You threatened my mother. You tried to buy me.”
“You’re making a poor case for cooperation.”
“I’m not offering forgiveness.”
“What are you offering?”
“A chance for the truth to include what Adrian did, not only what you did.”
Victoria breathed slowly.
Then said, “Come to Blackthorne.”
Rebecca shook her head violently.
Emily said, “No.”
“Then we have nothing to discuss.”
“We meet somewhere neutral.”
“I don’t trust your lawyers.”
“I don’t trust you.”
Victoria almost sounded amused.
“Finally, something we agree on.”
Then Victoria said something that changed everything.
“Adrian keeps the original transaction book at Blackthorne.”
Emily stood.
“What book?”
“The one Nora called the ledger.”
Julian leaned forward.
Emily put the phone on speaker.
Victoria continued.
“Everyone thought Nora had it. She never did.”
“Then why search for it?”
“Because Nora had copied pages. I thought she might have stolen the original.”
“Where is it?”
“Adrian keeps it in our father’s study.”
Julian said, “Dad’s study has been sealed for years.”
“Not to Adrian.”
“What’s in the ledger?” Emily asked.
“Every off-book guarantee. Every Sterling payment. Every trust expense.”
Rebecca spoke.
“Why are you telling us now?”
Victoria’s voice hardened.
“Because Adrian plans to destroy it tonight.”
Emily’s stomach tightened.
“How do you know?”
“I heard him tell Peter.”
Peter.
Still working for Adrian.
Despite everything.
Julian stood.
“Call the audit committee.”
Rebecca already was.
The independent counsel obtained an emergency order prohibiting destruction of records.
But orders moved through people.
People needed time.
Blackthorne was forty minutes away.
Adrian was already there.
Emily’s phone buzzed.
A photograph from Victoria.
The library fireplace.
A stack of old accounting books on the floor.
Adrian’s shoes visible at the edge of frame.
Caption:
HE STARTED.
Julian grabbed his coat.
Rebecca blocked him.
“You are not storming the estate.”
“He’s destroying evidence.”
“The police and court-appointed custodian are being notified.”
“He can burn a book in thirty seconds.”
Emily looked at Nora’s pendant.
Silver remembers what paper forgets.
Then she remembered something else from the gatehouse footage.
Victoria searching their coats.
Adrian saying: If Nora gave Emily the ledger, we’ll find it.
They had misunderstood.
They were not searching because Nora had the original.
They were searching because Nora had something capable of authenticating it.
Emily grabbed Nora’s green notebook.
“What if the ledger isn’t enough?”
Julian looked at her.
“What?”
“My mother copied numbers. Transaction codes. Dates.”
Rebecca understood.
“You can compare the original ledger to Nora’s independent contemporaneous notes.”
“If the book survives.”
Another message arrived from Victoria.
A six-second video.
Adrian stood before the fire.
Peter beside him.
Victoria’s voice whispered from somewhere hidden.
“Adrian, don’t.”
He turned.
The video ended.
Then Victoria called.
This time she was crying.
“He knows I’m here.”
A crash sounded.
Victoria gasped.
Then Adrian’s voice came through the line.
“Who are you talking to?”
The call ended.
Emily stared at the dead screen.
Julian moved toward the door.
Rebecca did not stop him this time.
“Police are en route,” she said. “You do not enter if they tell you to stay out.”
Emily took her coat.
Julian looked at her.
“No.”
She stared back.
“You don’t get to decide.”
“Emily, you’re pregnant.”
“And Victoria is inside with a man desperate enough to burn the evidence that could destroy him.”
“She attacked you.”
“Yes.”
“She used you.”
“Yes.”
“Then why risk yourself for her?”
Emily put Nora’s notebook into her bag.
“I’m not going for Victoria.”
She looked toward the storm-dark windows.
“I’m going because every road my mother tried to leave me eventually led back to Blackthorne.”
Then she touched the pendant at her throat.
“And this time, nobody decides why I’m there except me.”
May you like
The final confrontation had already begun.
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